Psychology Program

Welcome to the Psychology Program in the Department of Psychology and Philosophy at Sam Houston State University. Our overall program is rather diverse and includes the undergraduate curriculum, master’s programs in General Psychology and Clinical Psychology, a Specialist Degree program in School Psychology, and a doctoral (Ph.D.) program in Clinical Psychology (with a forensic emphasis).

At the undergraduate level, we offer the Bachelor of Science degree. To ensure that you get the best possible and well-rounded exposure to our field, we require that you take particular courses that are essential to all areas of psychology; these are Introductory Psychology, Elementary Statistics, Research Methods, and History of Psychology. We also require each student to sample courses from various “blocks” within our curriculum; these include the Personality-Social-Developmental block, the Clinical-Adjustment-Applied block, and the Experimental Block. With this well-rounded foundation, students can then point their efforts toward specific areas of interest.

Typically, in order to work in the field of psychology, a student would have to obtain an advanced degree, either at the master’s or at the doctorate level. Too often, though, our undergraduate students are under the impression that they can’t do anything with the bachelor’s degree in psychology. This assumption is not exactly accurate, though, and there are a plethora of careers for good students with the undergraduate degree. Keep in mind that a degree in psychology is a liberal arts degree and that the successful student can do any job that anybody else with a liberal arts degree can do and, often, do it better as the psychology students have studied, and have a good basic background in human behavior. Areas of employment for our students include, but are in no way limited to Human Services, Program Development, Public Relations, Advertising, Retail Sales, Management, Pharmaceutical Representatives, and Law Enforcement.

We welcome you to the Department and encourage you to do your best. Your future is in your own hands and your success in life begins right here.